Portable bowling alley



July 1l, 1944.

w. A. soMERvlLLE 2,353,598

PORTABLE BOWLING ALLEY Filed Nov. 13, 1941 Patented July 11, 1944 UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE BOWLING ALLEY Warren A. Somerville, Jackson Heights, N. Y.

Application November 13, 1941, Serial No. 418,922

2 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in portable bowling alleys and has for its primary object the provision of an improved construction of simple character which is capable of economical production and highly efficient in use.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists of the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a bowling alley embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 an enlarged side view'of one of a plurality of joints employed between the sections of the side members thereof;

Fig. 4 an enlarged detail section taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 an enlarged sectional detail view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 an enlarged detail cross-section taken substantially on line 6 6 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 an enlarged vertical section taken substantially on line 'I-I of Fig. 1.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing comprises sectional side members each comprising a side rail portion Ill and a gutter portion I I. These side members are made up of a plurality of sections as shown joined together by dowels I2 and locking links I3 as indicated to make up the complete side members of the alley. Each of the gutter members Il is provided with a. ball groove I4 adapted to receive a bowling ball I5 as indicated and for the usual purpose. As wil1 be noted the different sections of the side members are so arranged that the joints I6 between them are staggered with relation to each other which arrangement materially stiiiens and strengthens the construction as will be readily understood.

The bed of the alley is also made up of a plurality of sections Il arranged to rest in grooves I8 provided in the inner edges of the gutter sections II and being held in place by means of dowels I9. The bed members I 1 are secured to each other by means of beveled tongues fitting snugly and tightly in correspondingly shaped sockets 2| in securing blocks or heads 22 on the undersides of the sections and whereby a tight and smooth joint is formed between said sections as will be readily understood. As will be noted the joints between the sections I'I are also staggered with relation to the joints between the side members thus further stiiening the construction.

A ball return chute 2l is pivoted as shown to a post 28 which is secured to one of the side members, said chute being pivoted at a sufficient height to permit of the free passage of balls thereunder as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The chute 21 is so balanced on its pivot that it will normally rest against a stop pin 29 on the post 28 and thus be held in a slightly inclined position as indicated by the dotted linesin Fig. 2. When a ball is deposited on said chute, the same will roll to the forward end thereof thus over balancing the same and causing the forward end to swing downwardly to register with the corresponding groove I4, thereby returning the ball to the bowler. As soon as the weight of the ball is thus removed from the chute 2l, it will automatically swing back to its normal unoperative position through the force of gravity. and the fact that the same is unbalanced on its pivot. In this way the chute is normally held out of danger of injury from balls running off of the alley but will serve to return the balls to the bowler as will be readily understood.

A stop post 3U is arranged at the front end of the gutter member thus receiving the balls for return and the sponge rubber cushion 3l is proided on said stop post to cushion the return of the balls. By this arrangement a simple and eilicient portable alley is provided which is capable of economical protection and highly elcient in use. The specic form and arrangement parts disclosed is a simple and effective one for the purpose.

Vhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying the invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modication without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the'precise details disclosed but desire to avail myself of such variation and modifica-tion as falls within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bowling alley comprising two longitudinal side members made up in detachable sections, each section consisting of a vertically extending side rail having an inwardly extending ball gutter portion at the bottom thereof, said sections being detachably connected to each other at their ends by dowels and also by locking links which span the joints between them, the joints between said sections being arranged out of transverse registration With each other; and a sectional alley bed member detachably secured to said gutter portions by dowels, said bed sections being provided at the under sides of one of their ends with longitudinally projecting tongues, the other ends being provided with sockets to receive said tongues.

2. The construction specified in claim 1 in which the gutter members are provided with grooves into which the edges of the bed member are fitted and the tongues on the ends of the bed members are beveled.

WARREN A. SOMERVILLE. 

